Electrical equipment may include multiple printed circuit boards that are located within the same chassis. In one example, the electrical equipment is network processing equipment, such as a router, switch, concentrator, gateway, etc. The network processing equipment may include multiple line cards that provide interfaces for establishing multiple network connections. The line cards establish individual connections to computers, servers, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, etc. The network processing equipment route or switch data on the connections over a Wide Area Network (WAN) or Local Area Network (LAN).
The line cards are powered using power connectors. The power supplied by the power connectors generate heat on the line cards and in the chassis containing the line cards. Too much heat can damage the electrical traces and electrical components on the line cards. Thus, the amount of power that can be supplied to the line cards in the network processing equipment is limited by the amount of heat generated.
More power is required to increase processing capacity in network processing equipment. For example, some network processing equipment applications can require more than 200 amps of power. This is equivalent to the current rating on an electrical panel in a residential home. However, printed circuit boards in existing network processing equipment cannot withstand the heat generated by this much power. These heat restrictions severely limit the processing capacity of network processing equipment.
The present invention addresses this and other problems associated with the prior art.